Coffee Anyone?
by taking-the-hobbits-to-asgard
Summary: Avengers Coffee Shop/University AU. The recorded shenanigans of the Avengers as University/College students, in which they are tired and in desperate need of caffeine. There's Clintasha, and some background Stucky, but it's mostly silliness and fun. Rated T for language. Lots of chapters on the way!
1. Shield Coffee

Natasha sighs, flipping the 'CLOSED' sign over so that it reads 'OPEN'. Working at Shield Coffees isn't that bad, as far as student jobs go. Phil, the owner, is lovely, and is always on site to sort out anything and everything that goes wrong. The two other co-workers are great as well - there's Steve Rogers, the art student who makes amazing cake and is like a fucking ray of sunshine.

Bucky Barnes, the music student who is quite possibly the sassiest barista in New York, but has an amazing voice and sings like an angel. Bucky and Steve are dating. Natasha is the official homophobe-puncher of the cafe. If anyone says anything against Steve or Bucky being cute and couple-y whilst working, Natasha will pretty much vault over the counter and punch them in the nose. Natasha is training as a stuntperson for movies. that's why she can and will vault over things. And why she's particularly adept at punching people. Phil has framed all the complaints filed against her and they're up on the wall behind the coffee machines and next to the menu as a warning.

Shield Coffee is the go-to coffee shop for all the tired students who study at the campus pretty much next door. 'Shield University'. Hell, they even own this bloody shop. Natasha works here on her free days, when she's not training. Luckily for the three of them - Natasha, Steve and Bucky - their schedules allow them to work here, but sometimes Steve is practicing little doodles on napkins for his upcoming exams, or you see Bucky humming tunes under his breath, and scribbling down what could become sonatas and symphonies with a board marker on his arm. His silver prosthetic arm. He lost it whilst larking about with some mates (Steve included in the 'mates'), fell off a train, which luckily was stationary. Bucky has told the story over and over again, and each time it gets wilder and wilder. Natasha is pretty sure that the last retelling involved dragons.

The shop has a bunch of pretty regular customers - they're all good friends. Tony Stark, the idiot who has more money than sense. His dad sent him to university in the hope that he'd settle down a bit. So far, it's not really working. Thor Odinson, who is like a giant Norwegian labrador - always happy to see everybody. And over six feet tall. Bucky is permanently making 'body of a god' jokes, owing to Thor's name. Which he and his brother blame on their parents. Loki Laufeyson, Thor's brother (adopted), who is probably the most sarcastic (and hilarious) person in New York. Maybe the world. He and Bucky could probably level a New York with their combined sass. Bruce Banner, the ultimate scientist. Knows more about science than the seven of them combined. He's a good guy, wants to be a doctor. Really good at cracking jokes. And finally, Clint Barton. He's probably the best archer to walk the Earth. Training to be a stuntperson, like Natasha. World's most stupid sense of humour, which obviously means he gets on insanely well with Loki, and the pair of them are prank masters extraordinaire. Oh, and Clint has a ridiculously obvious crush on Natasha. He's asked her out five times this week. And it's only Thursday.

The eight of them are best friends. Yeah, all eight of them. Along with various girlfriends and boyfriends. Jane and Thor have been going out for ages. There are bets on when they're going to get married. Tony and Pepper have an on-off relationship. Mainly because they are both control-freaks. They break up about once a week, minimum.

But who cares. They're just a group of students, trying to find their place in the world.


	2. BARNES, PUT SOME CLOTHES ON!

_It's eight o'clock in the morning, which frankly is too early for anyone to be up, let alone be working,_ Natasha grumbles, sliding onto a stool behind the counter. _Who needs caffeine at this time of day? _The door slams open with a violent tinkles, because the annoying bells on shop doors were apparently not made to withstand the enthusiasm with which Steve Rogers arrives at work. He and Bucky go for a run each morning, and finish here, just in time for work. Steve is always cheery and bright, Bucky is without fail sleepy and pissed-off.

"Morning, Natasha!" chirps Steve.

Natasha gives a non-commital grunt, trying very hard not to drift off as she leans against the counter.

"Coffee. Now." mutters Bucky, collapsing behind the counter on his front. "Or I might fall asleep right here."

"Not until you two have had a shower and got changed." Natasha says, pushing herself up. "You can't serve customers smelling and looking like you do now."

"Rude. I'm staying here." mumbles Bucky, closing his eyes. Suddenly, he yelps as he is lifted bodily by his boyfriend and thrown over his shoulder.

"Cheers Steve." Natasha says with a half-smile, and Steve grins at her over his boyfriend.

They won't have any customers for at least half an hour. She did tell Phil this, but he insisted that they should arrive at eight o'clock sharp. Speaking of which, Phil should be here soon. Normally rocks up to the party at eight thirty, lucky bastard. But she and the others are grateful to him, because Phil doesn't make them wear unflattering uniforms, or hats for that matter, so they can wear jeans and shirts and hoodies, because that is the staple clothing of a student, and since this is pretty much a campus coffee shop, they might as well blend in.

Natasha glances at her watch. Training doesn't start til eleven today. Three more hours. She groans, head in hands.

"Everything okay?"

"Oh, hi Phil. No, everything's good."

Natasha smiles at Phil. He's a good man, and a great boss. He doesn't work as a barista, but instead single-handedly manages the shop's accounts, along with his wife Maria (nee Hill). He's a hard worker, and keeps the shop up and running and popular.

"Are Steve and Bucky here yet?"

"Yeah, we are."

Natasha sighs heavily and turns away, trying not to laugh as Bucky Barnes, clad only in the towel around his waist appears next to her.

"Barnes, please put some clothes on. Now." Phil says, suppressing a smile. He gestures to the small staircase that leads to the small bathroom and study.

"We'll have Health and Safety in if you're not careful." Natasha grins.

Steve jogs down the stairs, kissing his boyfriend's cheek as they pass.

"Have no fear, Steve is here. Any customers yet?"

Natasha rolls her eyes at the pun.

"Hilarious. Nope, not yet."

Phil nods at them, smiling.

"Right, I'll be off then. Maria will be in at nine. Have a good shift."

Steve grins as Phil climbs the stairs, and there are distant yells of '_BARNES, PUT SOME CLOTHES ON!'_

"And the Captain has left the bridge."

"You ginormous nerd."


	3. Tasha?

Natasha's first shift passed without incident. No explosions, no idiots trying to hit on her, no idiots trying to hit on the boys (because yes, she refers to Steve and Bucky as 'the boys') and no fires. Because there have been fires, actually.

Like when Bucky insisted he knew how to make cookies and it turned out that he _really really didn't_. Or the time Loki and Clint thought that it'd be a great idea to set off indoor fireworks and promptly set the ceiling on fire. Or the time Tony brought in one of his 'inventions' for show-and-tell and it sparked and there was a rather large explosion that did mean that did result in the firemen being called and Tony getting seriously told off. She grinned to herself. Every day, at four o'clock (ish) all eight of them and any extra friends/lovers/dragons (?) would meet up at the coffee shop and gossip and tell stories and generally just be friends. If any customers came in, everyone would climb off the counter and pretend to be ordering coffee. And when the person left, they'd all go back to where they were and they'd carry on like normal. Good little system there. Natasha knew how lucky she was to have such good friends. And yeah, they were mostly all male. Apart from Jane who is great. And Pepper, who keeps Tony under control.

"Tasha?"

She stopped. Clint.

"Oh, for God's sake, Barton, I'm on my way back to work." she sighed, hands on hips. Training was good today. Learnt lots of new punches, which she was tempted to try out on Clint.

"Yeah, well I'm gonna need a coffee. I'll walk you there." he shrugged, jogging to catch up with her.

"I don't need _walking _anywhere. I can punch just as well as you, and you goddamn know it." Natasha muttered, but made room on the pavement so that he could walk beside her instead of into the oncoming traffic.

After walking in silence for a few minutes, only with Clint pointing out birds to her to break the monotony. For no apparent reason, Clint really liked birds. His parents were adventurers before they retired, he'd explained, and they had loads of books around the house about exotic animals. Birds in particular. He'd avidly read them, attracted by the bright plumage and so piqued his interest in birds.

Clint shouldered the door open and held it for her. It really was unnecessary, but Natasha noted that he was quite a gentleman. Clint had grown up over the spring break, it seemed.


	4. Relationship-Advice-101

There's a crash as the door slams open with an ironic tinkle.

Ironic, because 'tinkle' is a word you wouldn't normally associate with Pepper Potts. Or her boyfriend, although from the look on her face, Tony Stark is something she'd rather not talk about right now. Natasha sits up from where she'd been slumped against the counter, accidentally dislodging Clint from his stool, which he falls off with a shriek. Bucky stops humming _(thank god)_ and Steve looks up from where he's been doodling on a napkin. He's drawing a cartoon of Phil's boss, Nick Fury, as a pirate. Bucky thinks that it's very flattering. Natasha says otherwise.

"I swear to _God, _if that bastard comes in here and thinks that he can just say _sorry_, Natasha, I give you full permission to throw coffee in his face." Pepper groans, flopping onto one of the stools at the counter.

"Pep, I know you two aren't getting on great at the moment, but-"

"_Not getting on?"_

"But I don't think that third-degree burns to the facial area will solve your relationship issues."

Pepper sighs, peeking out at Natasha from between her fingers. She laughs slightly, and Natasha relaxes.

"Pepper? Don't worry about it, he'll come to his senses soon. Tony might be a first-class dickhead at times, but there's no doubt that he really cares about you." Clint says quietly, patting her back, "You want a coffee?"

"Clint, you don't know how to work a coffee machine, are you sure-?" Bucky says, peering at Steve's 'accurate portrait'. "Y'know, Stevie, you could sell this."

"Oh, I'll manage. I've watched Tasha make coffee before-"

"You watch me make coffee? Clinton Francis Barton, what the fuck?" Natasha splutters, spinning around.

"Oh, shit, that sounded bad."

"Everything alright in here? Or is it relationship-advice-101 and nobody is welcome, especially Tony?"

Loki grins from his position in the doorway.

"Nah, you can come in. Just don't say the T-word." laughs Steve, mopping up coffee from Clint's attempts to work the coffee machine, which despite his efforts, he is completely rubbish at using. A moment ago, it looked like a coffee volcano, but in Steve's capable hands, all is well, apart from the coffee stains on Clint's shirt.

"The what?" Bruce asks, pushing his glasses further up his nose. "I don't understand. Have you invented a new and more powerful swear word?"

Loki rolls his eyes, ambling over to look at Steve's latest drawing. "The T-word, remember? Is that Phil? Why is he wearing a dress?"

"What, 'Tony'?"

"_HE IS A BASTARD AND I DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT."_


	5. Murdock

**Again, I'm sorry this is up so late. Been a bit hectic these last few days. Anyway, enjoy! Reviews are what make me keep writing. Just sayin'. Matt Murdock might be a bit OOC because I've only seen the first few Daredevil episodes, but he's such a great character that I can't help but write him in.**

* * *

Natasha sits back on her stool and surveys the chaos. Loki and Clint and Bucky are poring over Steve's latest portrayal of Fury (second name only, it always has been) as various Disney characters and their current discussion is about whether or not they should get it framed and hang it on the wall. Steve is denying all knowledge. But that's not quite true.

Thor and Jane are plying Pepper with tissues and a probably dangerous amount of coffee. Pep will be okay, she and Tony have seen worse and always seem to come out happy.

The door opens and Natasha glances up, praying that it isn't Fury. Or anyone she doesn't know, because she has no idea how to explain the drama that is taking place inside the coffee shop. She relaxes when she realises who it is. Matt Murdock. Nice guy, trains with her and Clint. He's also taking a law degree, and Natasha knows he'll excel at that. To be honest, he'd excel at anything he tried his hand at. Total daredevil, though. He'll do literally anything if you dare him to. Matt's blind, car crash when he was nine, got acid in his eyes. Never seen anything since. Says he'd give anything to see the sky one last time. In the few moments he's mentioned that, Natasha has to turn away to hide the tears that well up. Because Matt is so brave to carry on, to keep going. You'd never know he can't see, apart from the round black-red sunglasses he wears most of the time. He and Clint seem to click together. They understand each other well, as Clint's deafness means that he truly knows what it is like to lose a sense.

Matt grins at her, sauntering over to flop down opposite Bruce, who he studies with. Natasha shakes her head, smiling. Matt comes here so often that he can weave his way in and out of the tables with practiced ease.

"Morning Tash. Do you serve coffee here?"

"Oh, you're hilarious, Murdock. Bloody hilarious. " Natasha grumbles. "Cappuccino, right?"

"Yup. So, Bruce, that equation you were talking about yesterday. Got anything new?"

Bruce smiles widely. "I'd love to. Took some notes in my last lecture, actually. Do you want me to read them out to you?"

"Well, Brucie, I'm hardly going to read them myself."


End file.
